John O'Shei
- 2014-06-28
My pictures never seem to be able to get posted, but I found the most appropriate one for this silly poster:
John O'Shei
- 2014-06-27
The tourist feeling will wear off soon... Been here since Feb 2013? You are just a naive newbie (sorry, just being honest!) and it would do you a lot of good to listen to those who have more experience than you. I'm not intending to bully you or anything... I was there in your shoes once.
Being modest, open minded and not having a sense of entitlement is all well and good; but no foreigner should ever be forced to lose their self-esteem and self-respect. Be careful not to sell your soul. Your business school might have constantly banged on about multi-cultural adaptability, but remember why you are needed in this country: You have skills to offer that they have a shortage of (although with the amount of foreign teachers in China, that shouldn't be the case). It's not being racist or arrogant, it is as you would say; 'what it is.'
By the way, I smell a bit of Chinglish, maybe you're just another wumao! In that case, I fully intend to bully you like you bully others.
You have to leave all that 'sense of
entitlement' behind, you do realise that guy right?
Using the word 'guy' incorrectly or in an unusual and not so natural sounding way (Americans, feel free to correct me, if you haven't smelled the same rat). The tell-tale trademark sign of a Chinese person that is trying too hard to sound American.
We come in peace (shoot to kill)
- 2014-06-27
Are many foreigners leaving? You have stats to back up your claim right? Let's see them. I'm enjoying myself here, been in China since Feb 2013. You have to leave all that 'sense of entitlement' behind, you do realise that guy right?
It is what it is and it ain't changing for you or I. I met a great group of foreigners in my 1st year, then I met a bunch of not so great foreigners from there own country in ZIBO. I assume most chinese outside of Shanghai and 'filthy air' Beijing'ers think we're rejects from our own countries?
I've never lived in Shanghai and as it's so massive I wouldn't know where to start in terms of location. Any advice on this matter would be appreciated.
Just sick of reading posts from the usual suspects being so negative.
John O'Shei
- 2014-06-27
Actually, Shanghainese women are famous for being rather demanding (hen-picking their girly husbands) and both cities attract a fair share of gold-digging migrant worker women. Beijing girls can be a bit weird in my opinion, some are very traditional and stubborn, yet some are from backgrounds too wealthy for their welfare to ever be a worry and they are far more open minded.
The North also has its fair share of uneducated farmer women and in the Dongbei regions, women are often held back by chauvinistic, traditional, old beliefs.
Mingxiu
- 2014-06-27
Maybe I sounded really negative, but I believe what I wrote. I really think China is not such a good place to live. Having said that, I have had a few good times in China, and had a few interesting sexual encounters with Chinese women in the past.
Generally though, I think Chinese women are not really marriage material, the mainland girls anyway. I know many people did like that Silverboy guy who was posting here till recently, but in my opinion he was spot on in regard to many of his observations about China, especially the women.
What I find strange though is that he lived and worked in provinces were the worst Chinese women are. Why he did not go straight to Shanghai or Beijing is beyond me, instead of dicking around in Hubei and Guangxi provinces. More chance of meeting well-educated and wealthy gals in the north.
Concerned Teacher
- 2014-06-27
The environment is a big factor in causing ex-pats to leave. Filthy air, traffic jams everywhere, shonky cafes and restaurants , dirty water, a tainted food supply, people are worried about their health and the effects on their health from living for years on end in China. I know one guy from the UK who just moved to Koh Samui in Thailand from China because of the environmental problems in China.
Mingxiu, you make a lot of good points in your post but this one at least for me, is the most important one. Ok, not saying the air is any better in Hong Kong...IT IS NOT, and it is crowded with people and the traffic can be nuts too, but at least you know that what you are eating is safe and checked over by the food and hygiene department. It speaks volumes mainlanders buy their milk powder and stuff in bulk in HK, to take back to the mainland. There is just little to zero regulation in regards to the food in China, although in the bigger cities I'm sure there is more monitoring, but even then? And as for the water, yes, another big one. I knew one guy who fitted a water filter to his shower, as he didn't trust getting the water unfiltered out of the shower in his eyes, or on his skin. Drinking out of the tap, also impossible, I didn't even like the boiled water. You can't even be sure of the quality of the bottled water for the water dispensers, although I found one of the french-chinese joint venture brands ok in the home water dispenser. The problem is it could just be distilled anywhere? When I left jiangxi I had a horrible grinding left lung, the doctor in HK more or less confirmed it was caused by pollution in China, it was so bad I was coughing constantly and hacking up phlegm for a month or so, and could barely sleep at night due to the need to cough and hack up. An 8 year old girl died of lung cancer in the same province (Jiang su).
Good luck to your friend in Thailand.
Mingxiu
- 2014-06-27
You are right that many people are leaving. Not just teachers. There are many reasons. It's hard to change jobs in China, too much paperwork, and a visa is only valid with one employer. A Residence Permit should be valid all over China and it should be easy to move from province to province and change jobs, but it is not. It's difficult to complete even the most simple tasks in China, the Chinese complicate everything to the point of stupidity. Pay like you said is a big issue, teaching salaries in China are crap. Many teachers supplement their income in China by drawing from a savings account back home.
The environment is a big factor in causing ex-pats to leave. Filthy air, traffic jams everywhere, shonky cafes and restaurants , dirty water, a tainted food supply, people are worried about their health and the effects on their health from living for years on end in China. I know one guy from the UK who just moved to Koh Samui in Thailand from China because of the environmental problems in China.
One other thing is the attitude of locals: Why would people want to stay in China when faced with racist and hostile attitudes from the locals? China is not a welcoming country for ex-pats and foreigners are not made to feel welcome in China. The attitude is "we are Chinese, you are not Chinese". So what are you doing here? They want to move to Western countries, but don't like even having small numbers of foreigners in their cities.
The majority of mainland Chinese women are also a big turn off: Most just want to marry ex-pats to get either money or a passport, at least 95 per cent of them. I think more Western men would stay in China if it was easy to find a GF or wife who was willing to live with them long-term in China, but most Chinese women won't accept that situation, they want to go abroad, and expect a man to organize it and pay for everything. Foreign teachers in China are considered to be poor and low-class, and most Chinese women ignore foreign teachers.
In comparison to other Asian women mainland Chinese women are also mostly poor and uneducated, and can't speak English. I've thought about this before: These women must be really stupid, they have no money, no language skills, and they want to go abroad??????????????? Why would any sensible and switched-on foreigner be interested in them?
Japan and Korea are a better bet I feel as far as work and women go. Japanese and Korean girls are more sincere and educated than Chinese girls. Philippines is the place to be in Asia if you don't want to work and just want to chill out, have a pretty GF sometimes , but NEVER marry a Philippines girl, just have fun with them.
I know some Aussies who are planning to leave China. One guy has already divorced his Chinese wife and left. They are planning to sell their houses in Sydney or Melbourne and buy property in Tasmania, and live there, because it is still cheap there. In the future people will move there and the prices will go up: Melbourne is not far from Tasmania, it is a big city, it's population is growing like crazy and is expensive. When Melbourne becomes just another polluted and expensive shithole the residents will start to move south, and those former Aussies zhongguo tongs will make a nice profit.
Anyway, maybe other posters here can give further reasons for the China exodus?
About ten of my colleagues who have taught in China for over five years are all leaving and only two told me why...better pay in Singapore and Korea, and the other has asthma and can't deal with the winter air pollution. Why did YOU leave China?